Well, this is an often asked question. Which is better – Monocrystalline or Polycrystalline solar panels?

As you would expect, which of the two is better depends on the situation.

Monocrystalline cells (and modules) usually have a much higher efficiency that polycrystalline cells and modules. As of mid 2016, some monocrystalline modules have reached efficiencies of about 22% while the best polycrystalline modules can at best boast about 18% at the module level.

Higher efficiencies mean a correspondingly lower area for monocrystalline solar modules than for polycrystalline of the same wattage. So, you need lesser areas, and also to a certain extent, your capital costs for balance of systems dependent on area reduce.

On the flip side, monocrystalline modules that have 20% efficiencies are much more costly than polycrystalline modules which exhibit efficiencies in the range 15-17%.

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